Stihl chainsaw 030 AV

[Sky]

I have a chance to get a 030 AV Stihl chainsaw fairly cheep. great shape, manual, bar cover, extra chains. Hasnt run in years though. I heard the 030 AV's were pretty scarce. Anything i might wanna know on these?


Sky

[Scott Wenrich]

Sky

I'm no expert on vintage chain saws by any means but if you can get it cheap,go for it.Like any two cycle of that nature,if it has been sitting for a long time you will probaly have to replace the fuel line,filter,tank grommet and most likely rebuild the carb.Not really a big deal though.I have a BEAUTIFUL Stihl 08s from the '60s and all i did to it to get it to run is replace the fuel line and filter.Carb actualy works just fine.I'll take some picks if i can dig it out.

Scott

[Scott Wenrich]

Here's few pics of my 08s.I have the owners manual too but it's lost in the house for the time being! Third pic shows the nos spare bar i have for the saw.It uses a .404 pitch chain.

Scott

[Mark Schneider]

The first "real" saw I ran was a 031AV Stihl in 1976. My previous experiences had been with the early McCullough and Homelite models. It was a real treat to cut wood with a saw that would actually idle between cuts.
I spent some time in the Mennonite town of Filadelfia, Paraguay in 2000. While visiting the local hardware store I discovered that one could buy a brand new 08 Stihl there at that time.

[Craig A]

I still HAVE, and occasionally use, my 031AV. I bought that saw over 30 years ago and, even after a tree fell on it and broke the cylinder, it still runs when I need it.......

I paid a LOT for that saw.......does well over $200 sound right?

[Motormowers]

Good saw but bear in mind Stihl has discontinued lots of parts for those older saws. I know the rewind spool for an 031AV is $95.00 and the fiber spacer needed behind it is NLA as an example.

[Scott Wenrich]

Guess that's stihl's way-or anybodys for that matter- of saying "buy a new saw damn it and quit trying to use the old,better built ones!" by obsoleteing parts.I had a newer 08(had the chain brake and plain stihl logo) that i had to put a ton of work into.New piston,cylinder,carb kit,coil(used) and complete fuel line assembly,none of which was easy to get at that time.I sold it a couple of years back for $400(used!).Of course i had just about that tied up in it with all the parts i put in.Oh well,it's someone else's problem now.
Found the manual for my 08.It's a '68 model,probably one of the earliest,if not THE earliest model of the 08s.Don't know how i got so far off of the saw Sky is asking about but i guess that's easy to do! Ya'll making me want to get into saws again!

Scott

[quiet jake]

I ran 030, 031 and 034 for years in my little firewood business. Let 'em sit untouched for about a decade and then had a time with the fuel system. Finally sold them off, they had done me a TON of work with minimal problems.

Jump ahead another decade or two and I'm back in the saw market....looking for my old favorites. In these parts, they are considered OBSOLETE (!) and not ONE of the saw shops I visited even had a used one. Of course, logging shut down here about 12-15 years ago.....but the advise I kept getting from everyone was to go with a newer model. Even eBay didn't have many parts for the 030.

Finally bought a new Farm Boss. What a great saw!!! and for well undre $400. Starts every time, cold-hot-in between. If I didn't know better I'd swear it has more power too.

Good luck on the 030 project.